The General Election

[QMany]

 

[zoogs]

Inform those around you and urge them research the information themselves. That's all any of us can do, really.

This is great in principle. As Moiraine points out, though:

 

Not just believing lies that Trump tells but when there's a scientific consensus on something, let's say that vacciines don't cause autism, I have FB friends who will search until they find bull sh#t shoddy research from a disreputable source to show the opposite and claim that it's proof.

 

There is no way to battle that. None at all. I have no idea how to explain to someone who's like this why they are wrong. All we can do is try to figure out why people are like this and fix it for future generations.

I think the democratization of information has made too high the appeal for swindlers and deceivers; they've gotten quite good at what they do.

 

Are there better mantras than "do the research yourselves"? Because, I mean, often this translates to let me Google it, because I trust my own abilities over those inscrutable liberal elites claiming science is on their side, from people with inadequate science backgrounds but who don't realize that.

[QMany]

[Danny Bateman]

 

Inform those around you and urge them research the information themselves. That's all any of us can do, really.

This is great in principle. As Moiraine points out, though:

 

Not just believing lies that Trump tells but when there's a scientific consensus on something, let's say that vacciines don't cause autism, I have FB friends who will search until they find bull sh#t shoddy research from a disreputable source to show the opposite and claim that it's proof.

 

There is no way to battle that. None at all. I have no idea how to explain to someone who's like this why they are wrong. All we can do is try to figure out why people are like this and fix it for future generations.

I think the democratization of information has made too high the appeal for swindlers and deceivers; they've gotten quite good at what they do.

 

Are there better mantras than "do the research yourselves"? Because, I mean, often this translates to let me Google it, because I trust my own abilities over those inscrutable liberal elites claiming science is on their side, from people with inadequate science backgrounds but who don't realize that.

 

 

Pretty good summary of what is so dang frustrating about it. Moiraine described it perfectly.

 

When you're taught in higher education to scrutinize sources and only trust the good ones, it shapes how you view media as well. Millions of people just don't think like that. I guess to these folks all sources of info are roughly equal, and the most important qualification something can have is that it fits your worldview.

 

In short, there's no way to tell someone that Infowars doesn't deserve the same level of journalistic respect as the New York Times that doesn't come off as sounding elitist. But it's too blunt to tell someone they're being stupid. Which is exactly what they're doing.

 

Try to press them on it, and they'll get combative or defensive. It's a heck of a gap to try and bridge to reach common ground.

[zoogs]

A TIME column: The Bernie Sanders–Fueled Alt-Left Viciously Attacked Me

 

Amid this barrage, I wondered: How could these bullies defend Bernie Sanders’ decent campaign so indecently? How does calling me a “kyke” (again, their spelling) and a “greedy Jew” help this Jewish politician? And how could they applaud Clinton’s ad that showed how Donald Trump’s insults about women’s looks harmed young girls’ body image, and then mock someone’s looks? How dare they denounce Trump’s boorishness?

 

These supposed enemies of the alt-right were enjoying the same Internet-enabled anonymous power-rush of their opponents. They shirked responsibility for the words they post, the hate they spew, the democratic dialogue they demean. Their sense of injury trumped all.

I'm highly skeptical of this rather vituperative label ('alt-right' is self-adorned; this seems a specious parallel to draw), but this really summarizes a lot of the bitterness felt after this year's Democratic primaries.

 

For those who are observing much more from the outside, I suppose it's easy to believe Bernie had all the true (read: vocal) support, but was locked out. It has never seemed that way to me. I think a few more Dems than not were quite resistant to latching on to a movement with this much ugly lurking under the surface.

 

And this warning: "If Barack Obama’s election in 2008 ultimately launched the alt-right, Donald Trump’s election in 2016 is launching the alt-left." Yes, the left can do Ugly just as well as the Tea Party.

 

Party realignment can be good. I'm not convinced we are seeing the right ones happening right now.

 

There's a heartwarming story there about what happens when anonymity is peeled back a little. It seems a bit like a losing battle, though, in the wilderness of the internet.

[84HuskerLaw]

108 pages on a Husker sports talk site about the dam election? LOL You people are literally INSANE! You liberals are just plain bonkers. You need to spend the next 6 months watching only Fox news and reading honest news sources and listening to conservative talk radio. After that time, you will be cured and no longer filled with panic and dread and lunacy.

 

Freakin' nuts!

[funhusker]

108 pages on a Husker sports talk site about the dam election? LOL You people are literally INSANE! You liberals are just plain bonkers. You need to spend the next 6 months watching only Fox news and reading honest news sources and listening to conservative talk radio. After that time, you will be cured and no longer filled with panic and dread and lunacy.

 

Freakin' nuts!

This is an admission of being a troll, correct?

[zoogs]

108 pages on a Husker sports talk site about the dam election? LOL You people are literally INSANE! You liberals are just plain bonkers. You need to spend the next 6 months watching only Fox news and reading honest news sources and listening to conservative talk radio.

Lol.

 

But I'm afraid this is quite serious. And without irony.

 

1. Stop caring so much about issues that you would actually spend so much time discussing them.

2. Please get your news only from Fox news, and conservative talk radio.

 

The two pillars of logic and reason-based conservatism? I remember 84 saying something about how conservatives were the rational thinking kind.

[BigRedBuster]

108 pages on a Husker sports talk site about the dam election? LOL You people are literally INSANE! You liberals are just plain bonkers. You need to spend the next 6 months watching only Fox news and reading honest news sources and listening to conservative talk radio. After that time, you will be cured and no longer filled with panic and dread and lunacy.

 

Freakin' nuts!

I'm sorry.....

 

Is it offensive to you when it's pointed out that trump is a pathetic egotistical idiot that has not a clue what he is doing?

[Danny Bateman]

 

108 pages on a Husker sports talk site about the dam election? LOL You people are literally INSANE! You liberals are just plain bonkers. You need to spend the next 6 months watching only Fox news and reading honest news sources and listening to conservative talk radio. After that time, you will be cured and no longer filled with panic and dread and lunacy.

 

Freakin' nuts!

This is an admission of being a troll, correct?

 

 

This is the correct answer.

[BigRedBuster]

So.....am I correct in saying Trump has time to be the producer of The Apprentice still but NOT time for intelligence briefings?

 

 

Trump gets one presidential intelligence briefing a week: sources

 

Trump to work on 'Celebrity Apprentice' in his 'spare time'

[Fru]

 

So.....am I correct in saying Trump has time to be the producer of The Apprentice still but NOT time for intelligence briefings?

 

 

Trump gets one presidential intelligence briefing a week: sources

 

Trump to work on 'Celebrity Apprentice' in his 'spare time'

 

 

This is the world we live in. The President Elect makes time for a reality TV show but not Intelligence Briefings. Let's see the gymnastics to defend this one.

[Danny Bateman]

No gymnastics, but I'd wager a good deal Pence is handling foreign policy and strategy anyway.

 

Trump wants to ditch the POTUS handle in favor of the being CEO of the United States. He wants to surround himself with people he deems successful and simply delegate work to others. I think he just wants to micromanage his administration.

 

In terms of actual foreign policy and intelligence, I doubt he cares. The man just wants to market himself and be the center of attention. He's on a tour to soak up adoration right now for crying out loud.

He's an empty figurehead, but it's going to be four years of him trying to convince us every new thing he does is the greatest accomplishment since breaking free from Great Britain. The challenge for those who oppose him will be clearly demonstrating and articulating how he's actually doing things that are bad for people.

[TGHusker]

No gymnastics, but I'd wager a good deal Pence is handling foreign policy and strategy anyway.

 

Trump wants to ditch the POTUS handle in favor of the being CEO of the United States. He wants to surround himself with people he deems successful and simply delegate work to others. I think he just wants to micromanage his administration.

 

In terms of actual foreign policy and intelligence, I doubt he cares. The man just wants to market himself and be the center of attention. He's on a tour to soak up adoration right now for crying out loud.

 

He's an empty figurehead, but it's going to be four years of him trying to convince us every new thing he does is the greatest accomplishment since breaking free from Great Britain. The challenge for those who oppose him will be clearly demonstrating and articulating how he's actually doing things that are bad for people.

I think you got this pegged about right. I think Pence behind the scene is the de facto president. Trump is the cheerleader getting all of the adulation. And to be honest, whatever happens well, will be because of Pence behind the scene working policy deals wt Congress. Trump will claim to be the big negotiator (maybe the final negotiation portion so he can get the credit ) but he doesn't know policy from a hole in the wall.

It was Pence who did the Carrier deal and it is Pence who knows the ins and outs of Congress and has the long term relationships there.

[BigRedBuster]

He's an empty figurehead, but it's going to be four years of him trying to convince us every new thing he does is the greatest accomplishment since breaking free from Great Britain.

 

 

And things he doesn't do.